Game day has a way of demanding food that crunches loud enough to compete with the crowd noise. Enter bang bang sushi on crispy rice cakes. It’s sushi’s fun cousin who shows up in sneakers, brings the good drinks, and never asks for chopsticks. This dish started as a craving rather than a plan. I wanted sushi flavors without committing to rolling mats and perfect geometry. Crispy rice was the loophole. Sushi rice (leftover if you have any!) pressed into little pieces, pan-fried until the...

One of my “holy grail” dishes - ones that I continue to try to perfect: ribs, fried chicken, etc. - is the perfect mushroom soup. Typically, mushroom is heavy and rich with a lot of cream, butter and flour. That can be satisfying, but tends to mask the flavor of mushrooms - something I love. This one has a little cream, but is more brothy and flavorful. And let’s face it, it really is soup weather. Get this going on the stove - you and your family will feel warmer throughout these frigid...

I have a terrible tendency to gather fresh ingredients because they look great, without yet having a recipe in mind - especially if it’s one of my favorite markets. But the fridge was silently judging me recently for having too many recipe orphans. Of course, the freezer was of similar mind. This was not a recipe that arrived with intention - it arrived with inventory. A few frozen salmon fillets here, a bag of spinach there, cream cheese instead of cream, roasted peppers from last night’s...